The Return of Malchior
by Splinter1
Summary: Raven is having trouble meditating and comes under attack by an old enemy looking for vengeance. However, this enemy has crossed the wrong Dragon and his friends...the TITANS. First of the Titans foes that discovered that to mess with Raven invites a can of you-know-what being opened. Terra gets to help out as well.
1. Raven under seige

**The Return of Malchior**

_By: Dan Trigona  
>November, 2011<em>

Author's Note: This picks up shortly after the events in "The Dragon and the Titans" and is (technically) in the 6th season of "Teen Titans". Obviously, the episode "Things Change" is being disregarded. You'll have to see what I have planned for the team.

Teen Titans characters are owned by DC Comics and Cartoon Network…Edward's mine.

**Prologue  
>[September 15, 2010]<strong>

_Raven, Teen Titan, writes:_

_It's been an interesting couple of months for me. After the fiasco with Malchior, I never thought I could let myself love another being, not romantically at least. I do love my teammates on a family level, I suppose. But, there was no chance I'd ever fall in love again. I'd be Trigon's portal again first._

_But, I was wrong! When Edward first arrived, he accidentally initiated a telepathic touch that was withdrawn immediately. But, it wasn't a day later he helped revive Terra by channeling my abilities. Since then, we've grown very close as teammates, as friends, and as a couple._

_It's not every day when I allow someone into Nevermore, but, he's been there, at my invitation several times already. He's not put off by meeting my personified emotions, and after he was forced to battle Anger, there's been a grudging respect there._

_However, an evil from the past is about to return that will test my resolve and Edward's as well. I don't know how he escaped, but, we're going to deal with him, once and for all._

**Chapter 1  
>[Titans Tower – Jump City, California]<strong>

The Titans had recently returned from a minor mission in town to take down Mumbo Jumbo once again. Even Edward was affected by the magician's tricks to some degree. He had discovered that he had limited resistance to magical attacks, including Raven's. However, no one realized that there was going to be a major problem that only Raven could solve.

Raven had been having trouble meditating over the last several days and it was making the otherwise calm empath edgy enough that vital items in the Tower were sheltered away from her powers.

Luckily for the team, Edward was right there, either physically or telepathically to help calm her emotions when Raven couldn't find her center. Not to leave the others out, of course, they were extremely wary of Raven when she was in a foul mood and that was getting worse the longer it was taking her to be able to meditate. Edward was getting ready to actually ask Raven's permission to enter Nevermore and help her from there.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos," she repeated over and over, trying to find her center during the latest attempt. Her and Edward were on the roof, lest the other Titans accuse them of hanky-panky. Robin, for the sake of the team, had banned any "Adult activities". He knew that the edict would affect most of the team, except Cyborg.

Raven frowned in concentration and squeezed her boyfriend's hand.

[Relax, dear,] Edward said via the link he shared with her.

[Easy for you to say,] Raven retorted, [You've been able to meditate, I haven't. If I can't accomplish this, my powers will escalate out of control.]

[I know,] Edward said calmly, [Focus on my vibrations. Allow yourself to drift away, as if you're on a cloud. Reach out and try to find your center.]

[I'm trying,] she said, almost "in tears."

[Rae? It's going to be OK,] Edward said, trying to reassure the trouble empath the best he could.

[I know, Ed,] she sighed.

[Is there some anniversary of yours coming up that might be disturbing you?] he asked.

[Only thing I can think of is when I was so foolish as to free Malchior,] she said, [But, that was a few years ago. I've never been so disturbed that I can't meditate.]

Edward pondered that one, leaning on his long life and experience.

[I wonder, Rae,] he said, [if maybe I'm the reason you can't meditate. You were in love with him before and he treated you well cause it served his purposes. When he was freed and the truth came out, it shattered you inside. I've been there in a way.]

[There was a female dragon?] Rae asked, opening her eyes and settling on the ground, giving up for the moment the meditation attempt.

"No, there wasn't," Edward replied verbally. He has asked Robin to keep the others off the roof for a while, so, there was no need to worry about someone interrupting.

He continued, "I'm the only one of my species for whatever reason. But, when I was much younger, I had fallen for a woman in Ancient Greece and, well, the relationship lasted a long time. Sadly, though, the child we had adopted was killed in a freak accident. When he died, her ability to love died with him. Like you, my heart was shattered into a million pieces. I had friends who supported me, but, my capacity to open up and love again didn't really recover until I met you."

"Surely, there were others in the intervening centuries!" Raven exclaimed.

"A few did come along, but, it was hard to maintain. You see, this was in the Dark Ages as well. People grew old. They died, but, the problem is that I don't age. This is the form I generally used throughout the centuries. I'd make several alterations, of course. I couldn't afford to get tied down in a figurative sense because if the locals were to suspect the truth…"

"They'd try to kill you as a sorcerer," Raven finished.

Edward nodded, "In European countries, they'd rather torture you and then, if you were lucky, behead you. If you weren't so lucky, and a lot of folks there weren't lucky, they were burnt at the stake.

"I would have been absolutely forced to fight for my freedom and that might have meant breaking the ropes or shapeshifting to a smaller form.

"Mankind, Rae, was not ready for me."

Raven nodded, "I can appreciate that, hon."

"What's the difference between now and the last few years?" Edward asked.

"You," Raven replied, "I didn't know you a year ago."

"Well, I'm the second dragon you've fallen for, even though I'm far nicer to you then he was. I know your feelings for me are genuine, though. The trips into your mind have told me that. But, something's amiss and we have to find the cause of it," Edward mused. It bothered him to know that he might be the cause of her not being able to achieve that level of peace needed for meditation.

"Let's go to my room, then," Raven said, "We need to find the answers."

They went downstairs and ran into Starfire en route.

"Good morning, Starfire," Edward said with a small grin. He had long ago "adopted" the Tamaranian princess as a sister. Then again, he felt the same towards all the Titans. They had become his family.

"Good morning, friend Edward!" she replied, giving him a quick hug. Out of all the Titans, Edward was the only one that could tolerate her hugs without fear of injury or damage to circuits. But, this time, it was very quick as Starfire couldn't miss the worried looks on their faces.

"Something troubles you?" Star asked.

"Rae still can't meditate, but, we might have found a possible reason," Edward said.

"This is most distressing!" Starfire moaned, "Friend Raven needs to do the meditation."

"We know that," Raven said patiently. Edward had been told of the time Puppet King had stolen the souls of the team and how the guys were locked into puppets, Raven and Starfire had been switched so each knew a lot about their abilities and life stories.

"Can we talk later, Star?" Raven asked.

"Certainly!" she replied and glided away without a sound.

They made it to her room without further interruptions and went in. Edward was the only Titan allowed in Raven's room, even when she wasn't there.

Raven went to the section of books she had and looked in her meditation section and finally pulled one out entitled _Problems with Meditation_ and they started to go through it.

They came to a chapter called "Emotional Confusion and Turmoil" and started to read it. The chapter made it clear that when one's emotions were confused, it made it harder to achieve that all important center and advised the reader to examine why things were stirred up. There was a point that stood out to the couple and that was an anniversary of a major event that would make it harder to deal with.

"Sweetie," Edward said, looking at Raven, "I think it's time you told me all about Malchior. I don't think we can move on until then."

Raven looked downcast then, "It's a long story."

Edward sat down in a chair after arranging another to sit across from him. Raven got the hint and sat across from him.

He reached out and gently took her hands in his.

"We've got time," he said gently, "I know this is going to be hard for you, Rae. I'm here for you."

She sighed, "I know you are. I just didn't want you to worry."

"What, me worry?" Edward wise-cracked. Raven smiled a little. But, that quickly faded as her face fell.

A tear escaped and traveled down her cheek. Edward wiped it away and pulled her into his arms. She had learned to more than tolerate his embrace, in fact, she felt safest there.

After a moment, though, she composed herself and withdrew to her chair.

"Well," she said, "It began a couple years ago. I was feeling lonely and admittedly creepy…"

She spend the next hour and a half telling Edward the whole story of how she fell for the other dragon, but, she never knew that aspect until he turned against her and revealed that the only reason he went through the ruse was to get Raven to release him. Finally, she revealed that she learned a curse as well and the curse, combined with her powers put Malchior back in the book.

Edward sat there for the entire time, absorbing what she was saying. He wasn't liking what she said and was glad that she locked him away, hopefully forever.

Raven went over to a hidden compartment and pulled it out.

"I think you should see this," she said. She opened the compartment and gasped, "No!"

Edward jumped out of his chair and in the space of two steps was there, arm holding Raven and looking at an empty container.

Raven shuddered, hard. She was fighting off an aggressive emotion and looked at Edward with glowing red eyes.

"Where is it?" she growled at him.

"Where's what, dear?" he asked, truly at a loss.

"The book! It's GONE. Malchior's book!" she snarled.

"Easy, Rae, we'll find it," Edward said gently. He knew that Anger was in control right then and he needed to get the emotion calmed enough allow Raven to reassert control.

The glow died down a minute later and she collapsed into his arms.

He carried her over to the bed and gently placed her there.

He placed his hands on her temples and said through the telepathic link, [Rae, sweetie? I'm here.] Just a simple confirmation that he was there.

He felt a tingling in his hands that grew into a definite burning sensation until he was forced to release the hold with a barely restrained groan.

"Ouch!" he muttered, "She's gone into a very protective mode."

He opened his communicator and hit several buttons on it. He set it for Raven's biology and scanned her. Physically, she was unharmed, obviously, but, her heart rate was very high, as was her blood pressure.

"Edward to Cyborg," he said.

A moment later the face of Cyborg came on screen, "Yo, Dawg! I'm in the middle of beating BB again."

"Well, pause the game! We got problems," Edward snapped, "I'm teleporting Raven to the infirmary."

Cyborg said, "Meet you there!" and closed the connection.

Edward made sure that Raven's cloak was firmly attached and shapeshifted to different dragon form where he could pick her up in arms and still teleport.

He picked her up and focused on the infirmary and teleported. As soon as he emerged, he transformed back to human and put Raven on a bed.

A moment later, the entire team was in the room with Cyborg setting the diagnostic scanners to Raven's baseline.

"She's in a trance for some reason," he said.

"What happened?" Robin asked.

"Well, as you know, she's had trouble meditating," Edward said, "We were researching what the problems might be and we found one major difference. In the last few years, even now, she's been able to find her center and meditate."

"Right," Beast Boy said, "But, what's wrong this year?"

"Me," Edward said, "What happened to Rae a few years ago?"

"Malchior," Robin said.

"Got it in one," Edward said, "Even after that incident, she's been able to meditate. But, with me in the picture and as her boyfriend as well, I think there are some conflicted emotions involved. I'm wondering why.

"But, that's not the biggest thing. Robin, we need to search the Tower, top to bottom. The book she imprisoned Malchior in has disappeared!"

Starfire gasped, "No! If someone has friend Raven's book of Malchior, he could be released. He could desire the vengeance!"

"Against Rae?" Edward asked.

"Against the whole team!" Cyborg said.

"Not on my watch!" Edward snarled, eyes glowing yellow, "He hurt Raven badly and if he thinks he's gonna get vengeance…I will _KILL HIM_!"

The ferocity of Edward's statement dropped the jaws of the rest of the team. They knew Edward was protective of the whole team, even to the same level that Robin would be.

"Dude," Beast Boy said, "I'm with you. No one gets a second chance to hurt Raven."

"Booya!" Cyborg said, "I'm in."

Terra said, "I owe Raven and you, Edward. I'm in." Since her powers had reasserted themselves, the team had kept their promise and worked with her to maintain control. Once that had been achieved, the team voted and Terra was fully reinstated to the team, with all the rights and privileges therein.

Robin said, "Star and I are in as well. The no kill rule, for this mission…is waived."

Edward was touched and the glow faded from his eyes.

"Friends…no, family. I'm honored. Make no mistake, this will be a major fight and if needed, I'll teleport that SOB outside the city. Robin, did you guys get a chance to see what Malchior is capable of?" Edward asked.

"Not really, but, since the fight happened here, the Tower's camera caught everything," Robin said.

"Soon as she wakes up, would you mind if…" Edward started to say.

"We'll have it cued up and ready for you," Robin said, "Just worry about Raven for now."

"I will," Edward said.

He placed his hands on Raven's head again and tried the link.

[Rae, honey. It's Edward. Are you OK?]

A harsh voice came back, [Get lost, interloper! Raven's mine!]

[MALCHIOR!] Edward roared through the link [YOU HURT HER AND YOU'RE A DEAD DRAGON! RAE'S MY GIRLFRIEND!]

[And who are you, little man?] Malchior demanded.

[Your worst nightmare, that's who. Obviously, you don't have Rae's memories or you'd know. Name's Barnes and I'm an IMMORTAL Dragon, not a little man. And, right now, you've got a choice. Return Raven to us, or I'll hunt you down and bury you,] Edward said.

[Bah!] Malchior said, [I challenge you to try. I will have my revenge on her!]

Edward felt an electric chock run through his hands and he let out a scream when the contact was forcibly cut off.

"Edward!" Robin said, catching Edward as he stumbled. The team saw the intense red glow showing how angry he truly was.

"That bastard! That mother f***er! That SON OF A B****H!" Edward snarled, then, proceeded to say a few choice curses in 20 different languages.

"Friend Edward, calm down!" Starfire said, grabbing Edward by the head. She was the only one that had the strength to even come close to Edward.

The glow faded to yellow as he calmed down. The strength went out of his legs and Starfire guided him to the floor, followed by the other Titans.

"He's got her," Edward cried.

"Malchior?" Robin asked.

Edward nodded, "Yeah. I don't know how, but, he's invaded. Rae's given me permission to go into her mind when needed, so, it's time for a telepathic battle."

"You're not as strong as Raven, though," Robin said.

"True, which means I have to find Raven first, then, eject that [Tamaranian curse word here] out on his ass!" Edward retorted. Starfire blushed, "I didn't think you knew Tamaranian, friend Edward."

"You speak it here, Starfire," Edward said, "One of my abilities is to learn language quickly. You spoke enough of it I was able to pick up the basics and go from there. I apologize if my use of the language offended."

Starfire said, "Not offended, friend Edward. I'm surprised."

Edward stood up and said, "Time to take this battle to him."

He left for a moment to retrieve Raven's mirror.

After he got back, he said, "I may be back shortly or it might take a while. Make sure that if Raven starts showing signs of faltering, you keep her alive. She dies with me in her mind…I die with her."

Cyborg put a hand on Edward's shoulder, "We hear ya, dawg. We'll keep an eye on things out here. Good luck."

Edward held his hand out and said, "For Raven." One by one, the other Titans added their hand to the pile and said, "For Raven."

After that, Edward said, "Everyone out for a minute. I don't know if her mirror will pull anyone else in."

After everyone left, Edward said, "I'm coming for you, Raven. He's not going to win this one!" He bent over and kissed Raven on the lips.

He put the mirror on the stand next to her bed and looked into his reflection. A moment later, he felt a familiar hard pull.


	2. Nevermore under attack

Chapter 2

[Nevermore]

Edward emerged into Raven's mind and shapeshifted to a bird to look around. The landscape was in shambles! From what Edward could see, the attack on Raven was well off. He shook his head as he flew down for a landing.

He reformed his human self and saw Raven's first line of defense and the "Go Away" birds were frantic.

"Hi, guys," Edward tried to say before the birds turned on Edward. They hadn't before, mainly because the other times, Raven was actually there to calm them.

"Crap!" Edward said as he dodged the attacking birds.

"I'm not going to hurt you! You know that! I'm here to help Raven," Edward said aloud.

The birds continued their assault, though, saying "Go AWAY!" repeatedly.

"Can't do that," Edward said, dodging and ducking until he hit what normally was Happy's domain.

He entered and saw what was left of the area. It had been shredded horribly.

"Damn!" Edward said, "Happy! You here girl?"

All Edward heard was an echo of his own voice.

He tried again, "HAPPY RAVEN! If you're here, please call out!"

Nothing but silence answered his echoing call.

He muttered an ancient Greek profanity and started looking around. Malchior would certainly attack her more positive moods and emotions first.

Edward pulled a Beast Boy trick and transformed into a bloodhound. He'd realized that each of her emotions had a particular scent. Happy was like apple blossoms.

As Edward sniffed around, he caught the scent he was looking for as well as a smell of an ancient book. None of Raven's emotions had that scent, not even Knowledge. It had to be Malchior, possibly in paper form. Edward wasn't sure as he set off to track the scent through the ruins of Happy's area. Edward knew it would take a while to repair, but, he had to rescue Raven first. In order to do so, he realized that he would have to rescue her feelings first and get them out of Dodge, unless they wanted to fight, but, Edward knew which of her emotions he needed at his side: Brave, Anger and even Rage, if he could contain that part of her.

He headed off in the direction the scent was taking him and after a while, he entered Timid's area. Edward hoped Timid had hidden somewhere.

He switched back to human and called out, "Timid, if you're here, please, call out. It's Edward! You're safe now!" Her area looked like a bomb had torn it apart, but, as Edward listened, he heard a faint whimpering.

"Timid," Edward pleaded, "You're going to be OK. You're safe. Please come out."

The whimpering stopped, to be replaced with a choked off sob, "Go away! Everything's gone and I'm scared."

Hearing that almost broke Edward's heart, instead, he turned that into a stern resolve. He wasn't going to take this laying down.

Edward saw some movement and cautiously headed for it.

Sure enough, Timid was hiding from the threat.

He bent down and said, "Hi, Timid."

Timid jumped and started to run.

"Timid, STOP!" Edward commanded. Timid actually stopped and shook hard.

"It's me…Edward," he said looking Timid in the eyes, "You know it's true, little one. I'm here to help you and Raven. She's in big trouble. Can you help?"

Timid grabbed Edward in a hug and broke down completely.

Edward held the extremely frightened Timid until she calmed down enough to talk.

"It was horrible," she said, "When Raven touched where she kept the book, we knew something bad was gonna happen.

"A few moments later, I heard a roar and then Happy screaming. I ran and hid then. The screaming stopped and I heard another roar. I saw Happy's realm being destroyed, then, my area was torn apart. I saw a dragon with Happy in his hand. He started looking for me, but, I hid well enough to avoid capture."

She shuddered at the memory, "He blasted everything with flame! It was horrible!"

_Damn, that must have been the burning sensation I felt. Malchior's destroying Rae's mind first. Must hurry!_ Edward thought.

"It's going to be OK, I promise," Edward said, "I'll find Raven. You stay here and hide yourself, got it? Hide as well as you can."

Timid nodded and turned away, "All right."

"Wait a moment, though," Edward said, "Do you know where Malchior went?"

Timid pointed and said, "That way. He's heading for Raven's center. If he gets there…Raven will die."

"Not gonna happen," Edward said calmly. He had to stay calm for Timid's sake.

Timid said, "Thank you," before she ran off to hide again.

Edward transformed into his mini-dragon form and headed off in the direction Timid had pointed. The scent of old paper was fairly powerful. As he flew, he could see charred artifacts, some still smoking. It meant that Malchior was trying to blast through Raven's mental defenses and he wasn't concerned with what was destroyed. He was trying to find Raven herself. Edward suspected that she was going to make a last stand in her center. Edward had been there once and realized that Malchior was first capturing the emotions.

If he captured them all, he'd be able to force Raven to surrender. Edward wasn't going to allow that.

Edward flew on and decided to pass over areas that were damaged if possible, with the exception of the emotions that he could use as allies.

He flew into Brave's area and saw the results of a huge battle. Edward smiled knowing that Brave would rather die than be taken prisoner. He scanned the area for any signs of Brave. He was surprised to see her looking right at him with an angry look on her face.

He landed and reformed his human form.

"Took you long enough to get here! Malchior's got a huge head start, even with me trying to hold him back!" she groused.

"Sorry about that," Edward said.

"Well, we gotta hustle to help Raven," Brave said, "Malchior forced me to retreat and said that he'd be back. He said that unless all of Raven's emotions were captured, she'd fight. He wants to kill us all!"

"Not a chance," Edward said, "I rarely lose a fight and not for the woman I love, got it?"

Brave said, "What are we waiting for? A bad Beast Boy joke?"

Edward transformed to mini-dragon and lowered himself down. Brave didn't need to be told and got on. He took to the "air".

"Can I teleport in here?" Edward asked, "I can't waste time hunting through all the areas!"

"No," Brave said, "I can guide you, though. Problem is that Raven's putting up a fight as Malchior gets closer and throwing all the mental defenses she knows against him. He's tearing through them."

"And shredding her mind in the process!" Edward snarled.

"Easy big guy," Brave said, "We'll find her in time."

"Sorry," Edward said, "I'm worried."

Brave patted Edward gently, "We all know that. Everyone heard your conversation with Malchior. Last I heard, Malchior was changing his plans and heading for Raven herself. Turn to the right a bit. See an area where things merge?"

"It's off in the distance, but, I can see it," Edward said.

"That's her center," Brave said. Edward headed that way and poured on the speed as much as he dared.

"YEE HAW!" Brave shouted.

Edward rolled his eyes and flattened almost all of his ridges. He left the one in front and back of Brave alone.

Edward passed over other emotional areas, all in various states of disarray. He saw Rage, still imprisoned, though. She was just snarling as Edward landed.

"Can we trust Rage to help us?" Edward asked.

"It's possible. Rage doesn't really like helping out, but, I think instinctually, she knows that if she doesn't help, Raven could die," Brave said.

Edward walked over and said, "Rage, we need your help…Raven needs your help. You saw what's attacking her and your powers could come in handy. Please, if we release you, will you contain yourself until we see the target?"

Rage snarled, "What's in it for me?"

"Payback," Brave said, "Malchior's destroying Raven from the inside."

"Not enough!" Rage growled, "Why should I care?"

"Listen, fool!" Edward snarled back, "Raven will DIE. She dies, YOU DIE AS WELL! I'm not going to stand here and argue. You want to help or stay here as impotent and caged Rage?"

Rage thought for a second and snarled, "Fine, but, when Raven finds out you released me, she's gonna be ticked."

"I'll deal with her wrath then," Edward said, "Remember, though, once we're done, you have to come back here and be chained again. I can't risk you going off on any of my friends, deal?"

"Just let me loose, dammit!" Rage said, "It's a deal."

"You're my witness, Brave," Edward said.

He reached down and looked at the chains and shackles holding Rage. He decided that the chains would be useful as weapons and reaching down, pulled the chains out of the virtual ground.

"Get on," Edward said, allowing another ridge to reform.

"You get in front," Brave said, "I want you where I can see you and if you try to attack Edward…you and me will be scrapping."

"I'll just reach around, Rage, pluck you off and carry you in my claws if you do, and you can deal with Raven when we rescue her. Play nice!" Edward warned as they took to the air again.

Edward could hear Rage muttering some vile language and hoped it wasn't directed at him.

They flew on and Edward started to realize that Raven's defenses had been utterly destroyed. He was seeing open flames now and as he passed over them, he blasted them with the ice breath, putting out as many fires as he could in the short amount of time available.

They finally reached an area of flames and heard a loud roar!


	3. Edward v Malchior, Round 1

**Chapter 3**

Edward turned to see another dragon there and much larger than his current form.

"So," Malchior said, "You're the interloper trying to rescue this pitiful excuse of a girl. You're not even my size."

Edward's eyes took on a dangerous and deadly glow then.

"You bastard!" Edward snarled, allowing his own draconic temper to build, "Rage, Brave. Hang on!"

Edward increased his size threefold, enough to match Malchior.

"Interloper?" Edward supposed, in Japanese, "You're the one who broke her heart in the first place. You lied to her, told her that you loved her and cared for her! Now, I get the chance to beat the crap out of you!"

"So, you speak my native language? Big deal," Malchior said, "No way you can beat me. You don't know the magic needed to expel me from here."

"I don't need magic," Edward said, "All I gotta do is defeat you and DRAG YOUR SORRY ASS OUT!"

"You're not welcome here!" Rage snarled, uncorking a blast at Malchior.

"Insolent bug!" Malchior said, shaking off Rage's attack.

Malchior unleashed a plume of fire, forcing Edward to swerve out of the way. Edward then countered with his ice breath, eliciting a roar from Malchior.

"Well," Edward said, "Can't take the cold, huh?"

"I'll kill you for that!" Malchior snarled.

"Triple attack," Edward whispered. Rage, Brave and Edward unleashed a combination black energy and ice attack on Malchior, who roared again.

Malchior and Edward collided in mid-air, biting and clawing at each other on the way to the ground. Both hit with an earth shuddering force, knocking Brave and Rage off Edward's back. They rolled to the side and waited for a clear shot.

Edward and Malchior continued to grapple. Edward struck with his horns, drawing blood from his enemy.

"First blood to me," Edward said.

"No matter," Malchior snarled and lunged again for Edward. Edward batted Malchior's head aside and grabbing Malchior by the neck, fired his full force lightning into Malchior.

Malchior's scales and ridges lit up with the power running through him. Edward released his hold and saw a huge scorch mark where the power raced through Malchior.

Malchior roared in anger and tried to use his fire breath attack. Edward countered with his ice breath and as both weapons met, they cancelled out. Edward's ice breath proved to be more powerful than Malchior's flames, though. Within a few moments, Malchior's head was covered in ice.

That didn't last long, though. Malchior thrashed against the ground and broke the ice.

"Rage, Brave, GO!" Edward yelled.

Rage uncorked her powers full force on Malchior, finally knocking Malchior down. Edward leapt onto Malchior and started pounding him without mercy.

Brave, for her part, reached out with her powers and started to find Raven herself. Brave smiled and said, "Gotcha!" She floated off into the distance.

Edward was still beating Malchior when Malchior let loose a roar, "NO! Raven's MINE!" and threw Edward off.

Malchior gave chase after Brave, with Edward in hot pursuit.

Edward had the advantage of being able to streamline his form, and, that's exactly what he did. Ridges melted into his body, his tail stiffened into a pole and he poured every ounce of his strength into the flight.

Malchior had a head start but, was surprised when Edward caught up and retracted his wings into his body. Edward slammed into Malchior with the force of a few hundred tons. Both slammed into the ground again, this time Malchior rose missing scales and horns.

Malchior howled in agony and charged Edward, biting as hard as he could, only to withdraw with a scream, "My Teeth!"

Malchior's teeth had broken on Edward's scales!

"Sorry," Edward said in Japanese, "Diamond hard scales, even in Nevermore!"

Malchior snarled, "You're dead for this!"

"Malchior," Edward growled, "You haven't even really injured me, yet. And I've drawn more than first blood in here."

"Oh," Malchior said, "I've been toying with you, Barnes."

"Really?" Edward supposed.

Malchior tried to use his flame breath, but, the second he tried, he roared in pain again. The flames across broken teeth was burning them, badly.

Malchior charged Edward who charged right back. The impact knocked Rage off her feet. She snarled and her powers were unleashed totally.

Black tendrils raced from Rage and attached themselves to Malchior's jaw, forcing it closed. Then, a tendril clamped across his nostrils. Malchior's eyes grew large and he started to thrash his neck side to side, desperate for to breathe. Then a look of understanding came across his face and he jerked upwards, hard as his own strength would allow.

That broke Rage's magic and Malchior said, "Gee, no real need to breathe here! Nice try!"

He went to swat Rage with his tail, only to have that blocked with a tail strike from Edward!

The fight continued…

**[Infirmary]**

Cyborg was monitoring Raven's vital signs for anything that was a cause of concern. For the first six hours, there was no change in her vitals, so, he asked Terra to sit with Raven for a few minutes.

Shortly after Cyborg left, Raven's vital signs went wild! First, they were threatening Raven with excessive blood pressure and pulse. That caused Terra to hit the button for a code BLUE.

"Cyborg!" she called out over the intercom, "Get in here, Raven's in distress!"

Cyborg and the rest of the team arrived moments later and Terra moved out of the way.

"Pulse 195, BP 240/150! What the HELL?" he said, grabbing several items and getting ready to try to adjust her heart to a slower rate.

Before he could, alarms started screaming.

"CRAP! Cardiac Arrest!" Cyborg said, grabbing the defib paddles and saying, "Forgive me, Raven." He ripped Raven's leotard and bra off. He needed direct skin contact for the paddles. He'd face Raven later…if there was a later.

"Titans, about face!" Robin ordered. He would be damned if Raven would lose all her dignity.

Cyborg set the unit to 400 watt-seconds and waited. Soon as the unit was fully charged, he said, "Clear!" and zapped Raven. Her body arced hard and crashed hard.

"No good!"

"I know CPR," Terra said.

"Get busy, girl!" Cyborg said. Cyborg didn't say it aloud, but, he was glad Terra knew that…well, the team was required to know, but, Terra was the one to step up. She'd not be too embarrassed putting her hands between Raven's breasts.

Terra started the chest compressions while Starfire stepped up and said, "I'll do the breathing for Raven."

"Good!" Cyborg said, "Everyone else, out!" Robin and BB went outside to wait.

"Clear!" Cyborg said again. Star and Terra backed off as Cyborg hit Raven again with the paddles.

"No conversion!" he said, grabbing a syringe with a long needle. He moved quickly to plunge the needle into her chest after quickly swabbing the area with alcohol. He pushed the contents into her heart and pulled the needle back out.

Terra moved back to doing chest compressions. Cyborg charged the machine again.

"Clear!" Another shock was applied. This time, Raven's heart showed a regular beat.

"That was close!" Cyborg said, "Give me a hand, ladies. I'm putting Raven on partial life support, just to be safe."

Starfire wiped the tears that were flowing, "Will this support of life keep friend Raven alive?"

"It should," Cyborg, not minding the way Star phrased the question, "We have to keep Raven's heart from doing that again. Something major must be happening."

"I shall get Raven some new clothes," Starfire said.

"Not right now, Star, just put her into a gown. She's gonna be ticked when she finds out I had to see her barechested anyway." Cy decided, "Terra, please let BB and Rob know Raven's still with us."

"Sure thing," Terra said and headed for the door.

"We almost lost her," Cyborg said, "as well as Edward."

The vigil continued on…

**[Nevermore]**

Edward and Malchior were still engaged in battle when there was a series of strong earthquakes and lightning flashes.

Rage snarled, "You idiots! You're killing Raven!"

Edward thought, _We can't keep this up in here! Malchior's injured, but, we gotta take this outside Raven's mind!_

Edward couldn't pull himself away long enough to do anything else. Malchior had him tied up, but, Edward had to put some space there, so, he shapeshifted to a bird and flew off, leaving Malchior grasping air.

Edward shapeshifted back to Dragon and braced himself for another attack when a black wall formed between the two combatants.

Edward looked and saw Raven there. She looked terrible, but, she had enough energy to put a wall up. Rage and Brave focused and said, "Azarath Metrion Zinthos" and added their powers to the wall.

Malchior roared and charged the field. It held and Malchior actually looked stunned.

Raven's other captured emotions were there as well.

"Rae!" Edward said, changing back to human.

"Hi, Edward," Raven replied, "Do you mind taking this battle outside? You're giving me a headache."

Edward replied, "I'm going to need help evicting this bastard."

The other emotions said, "We got this, Raven."

They encircled Malchior and as they chanted the mantra, black energy flowed forth and surrounded Malchior. He was lifted into the air by the combined forces. Then, he disappeared from sight.

"Rest, honey," Edward said, "Time to finish this fight."

"Exit's that way," Raven said.

Sure enough, now that Malchior was evicted, the landscape was changing and changing fast. A glowing portal emerged in the shape of Raven's mirror.

"See you later," he said, giving her a quick kiss. He ran for the exit and as he hit it, his world went white.


	4. Intermission

**Chapter 4  
>[Infirmary]<strong>

Edward emerged from Raven's mirror in human form and after jumping down took a look at Raven's sleeping form. He was surprised to see her on partial life support and a hospital type gown.

"Friend Edward!" Starfire squealed, "It is most joyful to see you again."

"Same here," Edward said, "Looks like Rae had some problems while I was fighting Malchior."

Starfires's eyes drifted down in sadness, "We almost lost her."

Edward pulled Starfire into a hug, "She's going to be OK. Malchior's been expelled from her mind. But, where is he?"

"We didn't see anything," Robin said, coming into the room.

"Great, it means that we can expect to see Malchior at any time," Edward mused, "That first round was difficult. Malchior had captured several of Raven's emotions and laid waste a lot of her mindscape in the process. She's going to need a lot of time, I think, to repair the damage.

"Luckily, two emotions were able to help. Brave went and rescued Raven while Rage was instrumental in the fight itself."

"You got _Rage_ to help you?" Beast Boy said, "She never helps."

"Except when I told her point blank that if Rae died, do did she," Edward explained, "It was probably more self-preservation, but, I saw what Rae's capable of when she's well and truly angry. Rage exploded on Malchior near the end of the battle. But, we can't rest. He's out there now, and, unless my guess is right, he'd heading here."

Robin said, "Best check the Tower's sensors then."

Turned out that they didn't need to move as the Tower's alarm went off.

"Beast Boy," Robin said, "You stay here and guard Raven. You're her last line of defense unless she wakes up first. Titans, let's move."

The team raced out into the common area and on the viewscreen, they saw a large blip heading for the Tower at a high rate of speed. It was apparent that Malchior, when expelled, ended up wherever his book was instead of the Tower.

"He'll be here in 15 minutes," Robin said.

Edward said, "We can't fight him in the city, obviously. Let's lure him into the desert. This way, damage will be minimal and Terra, dear, you can let loose with your powers for once."

Terra said, "You sure I'm ready?"

"Absolutely," Robin and Edward said at the same time. Terra beamed at that news. It'd be her first outside the Tower mission since her rescue.

"To the roof, fearless leader?" Cyborg said.

"Titans, move!" Robin ordered. The team ran for the roof and soon as they got there, Edward shapeshifted to Dragon. The other team members got on.

Robin said, "Fly Northeast."

Edward took to the air and said, "Hang on! I have to pour on the speed here and that's risky. You might want to lean forward as far as you can. I know Cy and Star can hang on better."

"Yo, dawg!" Cyborg said, "I can tie Terra and Rob to you, remember?"

"Do it," Robin said. Cyborg's hands pulled away from his arms and while they tickled Edward, it only took a moment to secure Robin and Terra.

"Go!" Cyborg shouted. Immediately, Edward went to pour on the speed. Within moments, he was climbing up and over Jump City. He knew that Robin's mask and Terra's goggles would protect their eyes, Star and Cy would have to fend for themselves, sadly.

Edward looked ticked as he flew on. Even with his vision, he couldn't see Malchior, but, he was wanting to finish the fight, once and for all.

_No mercy!_ Edward thought to himself. This time, he had the Titans by his side. There'd be no returning to the book for Malchior if Edward had anything to say about it. This time, it was personal for the entire team.

"Friend Edward," Starfire called out, "Turn right! I see dragon Malchior!"

Edward banked to the right and sure enough, there he was. Edward bore down on his target, still a long way off.

He slowed down, though, mindful of his passengers.

After he slowed to a safe speed, he felt Cyborg's hand returning to their spots.

"Man, what a rush!" Terra said.

Robin shook his hair back into place and said, "This is far enough from the city to fight."

Terra said, "Should be OK here. This is close to where we met." That meant that property damage should be close to zero.

Edward landed and his passengers got off.

"Good luck, Titans," he said, "Malchior's one of the toughest foes I've fought."

Malchior looked like he hadn't seen the arrival of the Titans as he flew on towards the Tower. As his attempt to subvert Raven had been foiled, he had decided to kill her instead. What he was underestimating, though was the resolve of her friends to protect her. Each had their reasons to fight for the empath. Edward's was for love, Robin was fighting for a dear friend, Terra was to repay a life debt to Raven and Edward. Cyborg and Starfire was also fighting to protect a friend and family member.

Edward's spine started glowing white. The glow increased to the point it was painful to look at.

Edward's jaw dropped as he took aim.

There was a massive lightning blast from his mouth and the lightning streaked towards its target…


	5. Malchior gets what he deserves

**Chapter 5  
>[Desert]<strong>

The lightning that Edward fired lost little intensity as it streaked toward Malchior. Malchior saw the attack coming and tried to dodge. It didn't matter one bit. The lightning slammed Malchior in the side and knocked him out of the air. Malchior roared in agony as his body was hit with over 500,000 volts of raw power.

Edward grinned ferally as he saw Malchior slam into the ground, the thud of the impact a contrast to the rolling thunder echoing through the desert.

But, Edward knew that Malchior was tougher than that, so did the Titans. But, Edward had the advantage and pressed it. He fired again to keep Malchior stunned.

"Get on!" he said.

The others got back on and before they could say anything, Edward teleported to where Malchior was struggling to get up.

"You're dead!" he exclaimed.

"You want a fight to the death?" Edward asked coldly, "So be it! For harming the girl I love and for the Titans, I accept the challenge. For raping her mind, we will tear you apart!"

For the first time in battle, Edward said, "Titans, GO!"

Starfire yelled, "For Friend Raven!" She uncorked a barrage of Starbolts and eye beams.

Cyborg opened fire with his sonic cannon. Robin let fly several explosive disks.

Terra was throwing rocks and boulders at Malchior.

Malchior was having a hard time shrugging off the combined attacks. Then, he was hit with Edward's ice breath. That was his weakness, being a fire breather. Malchior roared!

Edward walked over to his enemy and said, "Titans, hold up. Time for this to be dragon v. dragon once more."

"You want to fight fair?" Malchior sassed, "Suits me just fine. I kill you, then, Raven's friends I will kill before destroying her as well."

"Out here," Edward said, "I have the FULL USE OF MY ABILITIES! And, I'm not holding back."

"Oh, you were holding back?" Malchior snorted, "How quaint. I go through the trouble of shredding her mind and you want to hold back?"

The Titans saw Edward's scales start flashing different colors as his eyes took on a deadly glow. Edward was in the final stage before his draconic temper was unleashed. He'd heard more than enough.

With an earsplitting roar of unbridled rage, Edward launched himself at Malchior. Malchior didn't have time to even try to defend himself as Edward tackled him and unleashed a punishing barrage of bites, tail strikes and claws.

Malchior was trying to defend himself as he realized that he had pushed Edward past the breaking point. Edward had been holding back in Nevermore. In the middle of nowhere, Edward had no qualms about letting go and just beating the crap out of Malchior.

Edward pushed Malchior up against the base of a mountain and the onslaught continued.

[Edward!] he heard in his head, [It's Rae. Please, listen to me. Calm down! This rage you're feeling will frighten the others badly. Let the others finish Malchior. They have a share of what I went through.]

[He raped your mind!] Edward retorted while continuing to pound Malchior.

[Yes, he did, dear,] she replied sadly, [I have a lot of repairing to do. Nevermore's a wreck! By the way, Rage kept her part of whatever deal you made and allowed me to re-secure her. But, Robin and the others will be frightened of you enough to possibly kick you off the team.]

Edward paused mentally and backed away from Malchior. His rage spent, Edward allowed Malchior to collapse.

"Fool!" Malchior said, "I will still destroy you!"

"Terra?" Edward said, "Show this cretin with a geomancer can do."

"With pleasure," she said. Her hands started glowing as well as her eyes and a moment later, Terra screamed as her powers were unleashed. The ground shook as a pillar of stone emerged and raced towards Malchior. The dragon saw the pillar coming straight for him and tried to get out of the way, to see Cyborg firing his sonic cannon at full power on one side and Edward's ice breath on the other side. Malchior spread his wings and attempted to take to the air.

Terra decided to bring the mountain down and started an avalanche as the pillar slammed Malchior and pinned him to the side. Then, she opened a huge crack in the ground.

Malchior screamed as he fell into the crack. The mountain continued to collapse under Terra's new found control. Malchior's scream faded as the avalanche stopped, leaving a pile of rubble behind.

Edward's ridges glowed a bright red and the others knew what that meant…they got out of the way!

A nearly blue flame erupted from Edward's maw as he swept over and over the rocks. Eventually, they glowed red hot before melting into lava. Edward made certain that the newly formed lava would seal Malchior into a different tomb.

He finally stopped, his desire for vengeance fulfilled. His rage and anger spent, he reformed his human self and collapsed!


	6. Rae's mind is shredded!

**Chapter 6  
>[Infirmary – 6 hours later]<strong>

Edward slowly came to his senses and as he looked around, he discovered that he was in the infirmary.

"Man, what hit me?" he moaned. He had a headache on top of sore muscles…and, for him, that almost never happened.

"Well, look who's awake?" Cyborg said, "Guess beating Malchior took a lot out of you?"

Edward nodded, "It did, Cyborg. Listen, can you gather the rest of the team? I'd like to talk to them."

"Sure," he said, "But, we have some issues."

"I know," Edward said, "I need to put those to rest first, even before seeing how Raven's doing."

"Don't worry about me," Raven deadpanned, "I'll be fine." Edward turned to see her still in bed, still gowned.

"You're up as well, I see," Cyborg said with a smile. Raven started to sit up and Cyborg shouted, "Don't sit up, you're…"

Raven sat up and the gown fell, exposing her to the two in the room.

"…topless," he finished and quickly turned away. Edward also turned his head and sighed.

"WHY AM I TOPLESS?" Raven yelled.

"I'm sorry, Raven," Cyborg said, "It was necessary. You went into cardiac arrest. We had to counter shock you three times, give you CPR and a shot to bring you back."

"Who gave me CPR?" she demanded.

"Star and Terra did," Cyborg explained, "They volunteered to protect your dignity. Rob and BB were not here."

Raven started to calm down, "Great! Where's a leotard?"

Cyborg reached down and got a bag and walked backwards.

Raven covered up and said, "It's OK, Cyborg. Turn around."

He did that and saw her covered up and let out a sigh of relief. She snagged the bag and said, "Can you pull that curtain?"

Cyborg pulled the curtain, giving the embarrassed empath privacy.

Edward pulled Cyborg aside and said, "Thank you for that. I know it had to be hard." He held out a hand and Cyborg took it.

Raven pulled the curtain aside a moment later and she looked a lot calmer.

"Thank you," she said, "Given the cause, I won't toss you out a window."

"Cy's a gentleman first, Raven," Edward said, "He wouldn't have taken advantage of you."

"You know it!" he said, "I really didn't want to do that, Raven. The blasted paddles need bare skin to work right."

She reached over to Cyborg and gave him a brief hug. She couldn't stay mad at a team mate who she entrusted her life to. She knew he was just as embarrassed.

"Thank you, Edward, for not looking either," she said. Given Robin's edict, Edward had not seen Raven without clothing.

"You're welcome, dear," Edward replied.

Cyborg called the others in then.

When everyone had come in, Edward said, "I understand that there might be some issues here. I'd like to address them, if that's OK?"

Robin said, "Sure. We deserve to know what the hell happened back there."

Edward sighed, "First off, allow me to apologize for frightening any of you. As a Dragon, my emotions are far more intense than human emotions. While I normally keep my temper under wraps, like Raven does, sometimes, I can be pushed past the breaking point. Malchior's taunting and attempted shredding of Raven's mind was the kicker. Threatening to kill her and the rest of the team…my family was enough to cause my control to snap. It's difficult to explain.

"I know it's hard to grasp right now. Let me ask you guys something. If Starfire or Terra were raped, I know Robin and Beast Boy would not stop before the person was captured or killed, right?"

Both men nodded their heads.

"Well," Edward continued, "Malchior not only mentally raped Rae, he tried to destroy her from the inside. I know Cyborg and BB were uninvited guests in her mind…what I saw was total destruction of her emotional realms.

"Malchior and I fought first for Raven's very sanity. I was forced to hold back to limit the damage to her mind. Malchior only wanted to take over. Had Raven fallen mentally, the woman I love…your friend would no longer exist. We would have been forced to destroy her.

"In the desert, most of us heard his taunts. I made the choice to let my temper go. For that, I owe you an apology."

Robin sighed, "It was frightening to see that side of you Edward. You'd hinted what can happen, though, so, we weren't totally surprised. You're still a valued member of the team and, well, what good you do in bringing bad guys to justice outweighs, at least in my mind, anything that happened here.

"You were fighting for your loved one. That's the important part, right, team?"

Everyone nodded. Starfire moved close to Robin and asked, "Would you do the same for me, boyfriend Robin?"

"No question, Star," Robin said.

"Same goes for me, Terra," Beast Boy said, pulling the geomancer into a hug.

Raven slowly got out of bed and sat next to Edward. She did something that she didn't normally allow the other Titans to see: She grabbed Edward in a hug and kissed him. Everyone's jaw dropped.

When the couple came up for air, Raven blushed deeply.

"It's about time," Cyborg quipped, "We've been waiting for that."

"What happened to Malchior?" she asked.

"Well, Terra here proved that her powers are back and under full control. She pinned Malchior to the side of a mountain, opened a huge crack in the ground, and dumped the mountain on Malchior," Edward said, "He's a dead dragon. I melted the rocks into lava and sealed him in there. The nightmare's over, sweetheart. This time, for good."

Raven leaned into Edward and wept. Edward held onto her, not sure if she was crying out of sadness, relief or tears of happiness.

[You OK?] he asked via the link.

[No, I'm not. He tore Nevermore apart trying to destroy me! Thank you for helping me. I can't ever repay that,] she cried.

[Raven! You know me better than that,] he chided gently, [You'd do the same for me. We both love each other and that means that should there be a threat, we have each other's backs. Dearest one, there's no debt to repay. Malchior is gone…he's not coming back, ever. I didn't take any pleasure in his death, Rae, but, I'll be damned if I would have let this go unchallenged. I'm glad you're going to be OK, though.]

[Will I?] she asked, [He destroyed Happy's realm, Timid is still hiding in what's left of her realm, Brave is muttering some vile things as her area's gone as well. Rage is, for once, calm enough to be rational at least. My other emotions are rebuilding their areas from various amounts of damage. I'm barely able to hold on now!]

Edward motioned the other Titans closer and said, "Rae's going to need time. According to her, Malchior pretty much trashed everything in her head."

Starfire looked ready to cry as she leaned over and put a hand on Raven's back.

"We're here for you, sister Raven," she said.

"We all are," Robin said. The team put their arms around Edward and Raven.

[You've got us, Rae. The team's leaned on you for a long time. It's time for you to lean of all of us, dear. I will take as much time with you as needed to help rebuild what was lost,] Edward said.

[You can't rebuild what I lost, Edward,] she replied sadly, [Only my emotions can rebuild their areas.]

[Can you meditate any?] Edward asked.

[I haven't tried yet,] she said, [I'm worried about what will happen…what I'll find.]

[Rae, sweetheart. We have to see how bad things are,] Edward rationalized, [You're the most logical person I know. We need that right now. But, we can do that one day at a time. Give the emotions time to see how bad the damage is, and work on the worst of the damage. I promise you, things will be fine. It will take a while, but, it will be OK. You have the entire Teen Titans to help.]

She looked up and saw the concerned looks on everyone's faces. Beast Boy handed Raven some Kleenex, which she gratefully accepted.

"We'll celebrate later," Cyborg said gently, "This is a bad time."

"Agreed," Robin said, "We can't celebrate when one of our members is hurting like this." They didn't know that Edward was also recovering. The fights had taken a lot out of him and pushing his breath weapons drained his energy reserves. He couldn't shapeshift even if he wanted to.

Raven had calmed down a bit, enough that Edward said out loud, "Sleep, my little Raven. You're safe now."

Raven looked up at Edward and smiled. That surprised the other Titans. Raven typically would have gotten upset at that statement, but, in the past few months, she had opened up to the other members of the Titans. They all figured that Edward was doing a lot of good for Raven, so, they were glad that he'd handled one of her enemies.

"Hold me," she replied, not caring if the others saw her as weak. Edward nodded and said, "As long as you'd like."

[What will the team think?] she asked softly.

[Don't worry about what they think, sweetheart. After all that you've been through, they understand.]

As Edward continues to hold her, the others slowly left. Cyborg was the last one and he said, "You two are free to go when you want to."

Finally, the room was empty except for Edward and Raven. She looked exhausted, but, then terrified of going to sleep.

"I want to sleep," she said, "But, I know if I do…"

"Hush, Rae," Edward said gently, "I'm here. You're safe now. Try to sleep. I won't go anywhere, promise, unless I need to use the restroom."

She snuggled closer to him and closed her eyes. He kissed her on the forehead as her breathing slowed. Within minutes, she was sleeping.

Edward gently laid her down and laid down next to her. It didn't take long for him to doze off, either.

**[Two hours later]**

Edward awoke with a start as Raven appeared to be in the middle of a nightmare. She was thrashing and moaning in her sleep.

He gently put a hand on her back and started making small motions, trying to calm the dream. As he did, his telepathic senses reached out and Edward was able to "see" in his mind parts of the nightmare.

As Edward feared, Raven was dreaming that Malchior was chasing her along with a red giant demon with four glowing eyes and deerlike horns on his head.

_Raven's father?_ Edward supposed.

Edward tried to figure out how he could insert himself into the dream Raven was having, but, as she thrashed around, Edward realized that her powers were about to be unleashed. He opted to try waking her.

He shook her gently, "Raven, sweetheart. Time to wake up. You're having a bad dream."

She thrashed and moaned more.

[RAVEN! WAKE UP! IT'S JUST A DREAM!] he yelled through the link.

She jerked wildly and Edward was forced to restrain her. She screamed, "NO! LET ME GO! I WON'T LET YOU HURT MY FRIENDS!"

Edward relaxed his hold, realizing that she was so deeply immersed in the nightmare, her mind thought she was being captured.

Cyborg raced into the room and said, "What's wrong? I heard Raven screaming."

"Bad nightmare," Edward replied, "Get me a stimulant!"

"You sure, man?" he asked.

"I can't get her to wake up," Edward said, "She's about to unleash her powers if we don't break her out of it."

Cyborg went over and pulled out a mild stimulant. He was able to inject Raven in the arm, but, she screamed, "NO! Don't, Father!"

"Trigon?" Cyborg asked.

"Yeah," Edward said, "If he's big, red, mean looking, that's him. I'm seeing parts of her nightmare in my mind."

[Rae, calm down. Stop fighting, hon. Listen to the link. Focus on my voice. Project my dragon form into your dream, dear. Let it protect you.]

For a long moment, nothing happened. Then, her subconscious mind started to listen to the link and Edward felt that she was trying to conjure up Edward's dragon form.

"Why don't you use her mirror?" Cyborg suggested.

"Too dangerous," Edward surmised, "It would take me a while to find where this nightmare is at. This way, by using the link and gentle stimulation and suggestion, I might be able to break her out of it."

Cyborg nodded.

[Rae, I'm here in the waking world. Take control of the dream, hon. You can defeat these guys. They're figments of your imagination here. You're real, I'm real. I can sense that you're trying. Remember what my dragon form looks like,] Edward encouraged.

Edward sensed that she had succeeded finally.

[There you go!] he cheered, [Use the breath weapons. Malchior couldn't stand ice. Use that to freeze him. Trigon can be hurt! Do whatever you did to defeat him last time!]

She said, "This is my home and YOU'RE NOT WELCOME HERE! AZARATH METRION ZINTHOS!"

Cyborg hollered, "DUCK!" as Raven's body became enshrouded in her soul self for a moment.

Raven's eyes snapped open and she gasped.

Her eyes slowly focused on Edward and her breathing started to calm dow a second.

Then, she simply broke down again. The tears started flowing as Edward gathered her into his arms again.

"You're safe, sweetie," he said gently, "It was just a bad nightmare."

She unleashed probably years of pent up emotion as Cyborg rushed to secure everything not nailed down. He knew that her powers were on the verge of going wild.

Sure enough, her emotion fed powers started going berserk as well. Cyborg barely got out of the room, but, Edward braved the tsunami, holding Raven and rubbing her back.

"Let it out, hon," Edward said gently, "Don't worry if you hurt me, I understand why. It's ok."

His heart was breaking, though. He hated that Malchior had won one battle…He broke Raven's control. Nevermore was a shambles and without that, there was little anyone could do.

"Please, help me!" she cried, "I can't do this alone."

"I'm here, Rae," Edward said, "Let me in. I'll do everything in my power to help you. You're never alone."

"Need to meditate," she sobbed.

"Rae, you have to be calm to find your center," he reminded her, "Just relax. Let's try to focus. Azarath metrion zinthos. Start with your mantra. Let your emotions calm down that way."

She started repeating her mantra and at first her powers were lashing out even harder, then, they slowly calmed down and Raven was able to regain control.

She assumed the lotus position and allowed Edward to continue holding her hand. He assumed the lotus position as well, took a calming breath and found his center.

They were chanting her mantra as Raven, after nearly a week of no meditation, finally found her center.

Edward sensed inner relief on Raven's part as her meditation grew deeper. He allowed her to guide the way through the maze of jumbled feelings. She tried to project a feeling of calm throughout the session.

Edward let her take the time to start the recovery silently.

He was vaguely aware of another presence in the meditation session. This was represented by a soft rosy glow. It followed along, watching, but, Edward sensed deep distress. Only one other person would be acutely affected: Starfire.

[Hi, Starfire,] Edward whispered.

[Friend Edward?] she asked.

[Yeah,] he said, [I can only talk to you like this in Raven's meditation session.]

[How is sister Raven?] Starfire asked.

[Bad,] Edward said, [I just got her calmed down enough to meditate. She had a nasty nightmare.]

[I know,] Starfire said, [Friend Cyborg said she was dreaming of the Trigon and deceased enemy Malchior.]

[She was,] Edward replied, [Thanks for the moral support!]

[Please, what is 'moral support'?] she asked.

[It means being a friend. Being there when things are bad,] Edward replied, [Rae's going to need it for a long time. Look around and you'll see why.]

[This looks worse than friend Beast Boy's room!] she exclaimed.

[Starfire?] Raven's voice asked, [What are you doing here?]

[Please, forgive me sister Raven,] Starfire said, [I wanted to give you the 'moral support'.]

Edward could feel the smile in Raven's 'voice' as she said, [It's all right. I could use some girl time.]

[That's my cue to back away for a little while,] Edward said wistfully, [I'll be available when you need me, dear. Starfire, thanks again.]

[You're welcome, friend Edward!]

[Thanks, dear,] Raven said.

Edward withdrew from the meditation and sure enough, Starfire was there physically.

Edward took a deep breath and sighed. Raven would be all right, but, her mind HAD been shredded and would take time to heal.


	7. The recovery

**Conclusion  
>[Three days later]<strong>

Raven spent a long time trying to assess all the damage Malchior did to her mindscape and realized that it might take weeks, at the least to fix all the damage Malchior caused to Nevermore. She refused Edward's request to help, saying that it was her problem and she'd fix it. Edward walked away puzzled.

"Dude, don't let that bother you," Beast Boy had said, "Raven does that when things have gone south. She tends to retreat to her room until things have settled down."

"How do I get her to open up again?" Edward had asked the younger changeling.

"Give her time and space," he said, "She'll open up to you when she's ready. In fact, she may open up to you before she opens up to the rest of us. We're actually used to this side of Raven, dude. She'll be fine."

"Should I try to…" Edward started to ask. BB cut him off.

"NO! When she says she needs to be alone, she means it. She tossed me out the window once for eavesdropping and didn't speak to me for over a week except for missions.

"Word to the wise…When she's ticked, she can override my shapeshifting abilities, she can probably mess with yours as well."

Edward took the advice to heart. He did check-in via the link, though.

[Rae?]

[What?] she had replied.

[Just checking in with you for a moment to see how you're doing. I am worried about you,] he said.

[That's sweet of you, dear. But, I need to be left alone for a while. I love you and don't want to hurt you emotionally. Please, give me another week or so. You can bring me meals, but, that's it, OK?] she stated matter-of-factly.

He sighed and said, [All right. At least I'd be able to see you see a few moments a day, that will suffice. BB told me about leaving you be, so, I'll do that for you.]

She said, [Beast Boy can be sweet when he wants to be. He's known me far longer than you, and, he's right. I'm making a partial exception for us to have a little time together, but, the damage is…bad. The emotions and I are slowly fixing things, but, I need to do a lot of meditation. Before I close the link, though, thank you so much for helping me to meditate again and to face those fears.]

He replied, [Rae, dear…you didn't have to thank me, but, you're welcome regardless. It's part of having each other's back. You were hurting and needed to lean on me…and Starfire. I hope she was able to help.]

A smile through the link, [She helped a lot. She just listened. Sometimes, Starfire can get me to open up more than anyone else on the team. We have a special bond. Why do you think she's started calling me her sister?]

[I completely understand, dearest. I'll leave you to meditation or whatever you're doing. Love you!] he said.

[Love you, too,] she said and the link went silent.

He was surprised she even talked as long as she did. He knew in his heart that she was fine and resolved to leave her alone.

Over the next week and a half, while there were some small missions, Raven was allowed to skip those. Edward's abilities made up for her absence, as did Terra's.

Raven did actually accept her meals and allowed Edward to bring her tea as well during the day. Most of the day, though, the link was quite silent.

Finally, though, Raven recovered enough to end her enforced isolation and rejoined the team, much to everyone's surprise.

She even went over to Terra and thanked her for her role in getting rid of Malchior with a brief hug. The two women had patched up their differences months ago, so, there was little friction.

She was still having nightmares at times and while they were not as aggressive as the initial one, she was coping. She would accept Edward's reassuring calmness through the link after each one occurred, though, even if she woke him up during the night. But, then, if she was in enough distress, it bled through their bond and woke Edward. He didn't mind. He knew she was at a most vulnerable point in her life and needed the help. He'd give her as much dignity as humanly possible, though, and not mention much to the other Titans.

Raven, for her part, leaned on Edward less and less as time went by. It took a month, but, finally she told Edward that she was sleeping through the night and that she would welcome him back into her room.

"I told ya, dude," Beast Boy cheered, "She needed the alone time, but, I'm glad that she didn't kick you completely out of the picture while she healed emotionally.

"I'm glad Malchior's buried, though. He can't hurt her again. And, I'm sorry."

"For what BB?" Edward asked.

"I'm sorry for threatening you and comparing you to Malchior. I was out of line," Beast Boy held out a hand.

"Apology accepted," Edward said, shaking his young friend's hand, "You had every right to be distrustful, though. I am a Dragon and while Raven and I didn't plan to be a couple, especially since her first 'boyfriend' was another dragon. I had to be sure her feelings were true, as she needed to be sure about me."

_Edward Barnes writes…_

_Raven's recovery is going well and for that I'm very grateful. While I can't take pleasure in the death of a dragon, what he did to my girl is going to take a long time to forgive. The invasion of her mind and damaging Nevermore almost killed her. Rae's nightmares, once happening every time she closed her eyes to sleep have trickled down to what's normal for her, maybe once a week. But, I think Starfire has a lot to do with it as well. Rae and Star are close friends, and, well…Rae needs female friends as much as she needs me. The Tamaranian princess is always welcome wherever Rae and I could end up if the Titans should ever disband._

_But, for now, it's time to close this diary entry and look forward to whatever the Fates have in store for the Titans…_

The End (for now)…

Thanks for reading, folks. I know this isn't as long as the initial installment, but, this particular story was one that needed to be written. Next story may be a few days in coming, though. I need to help take care of some things in real life.

Thanks to those who decide to favorite this, put me down for an author alert or just a simple review. No pressure at all for any of these, obviously.

Until next time!


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